LONDON • Over to you, Liverpool. In a title race where there is so little margin for error, a fifth straight Premier League victory for Manchester City, courtesy of Riyad Mahrez's second-half goal, means the champions put the onus back on the Reds ahead of the Merseyside derby.
It may have been a scrappy winner that settled this contest, but the gulf in class was huge.
To put Saturday's game into perspective, Bournemouth failed to register an attempt on goal of any description and never even managed to win a corner.
Eddie Howe's team had only 18 per cent of the possession and Guardiola's side were in so much control that it is seemed as though they had an extra man on the pitch for much of the match.
Hailing his "incredible" players, the Spaniard said: "One of the best performances we've ever played.
"We didn't concede one shot on target. Every time we lost the ball, we had three or four guys going to recover it. Bournemouth are incredibly well-organised, with 11 players in the box, so there's really no spaces, but we found them.
"I don't know what's going to happen at the end of the season, but these players deserve all my admiration and respect. Today was a special moment for all of us."
The only sour note for City was the sight of Kevin de Bruyne pulling up with a hamstring injury towards the end of the first half.
Telling BBC Sport the Belgian would be "out for a while", Guardiola felt that the injuries - Fernandinho and Aymeric Laporte are already out for the next few weeks - could be down to the intensity he required his players to play with, but confirmed the withdrawal of John Stones was merely a precaution.
He said: "We demand a lot of the players without giving them the time to rest physiologically, that is why it is incredible. It's normal, we've played 25 games in 93 days."
The 48-year-old, however, insisted that the absences would give his squad players like Mahrez, who scored his first league goal in almost three months, the opportunity to stake their claim for a starting place.
Guardiola added: "His time is going to come because there are a lot of games. I don't have any doubts about his quality. He has to understand where he is, he is at a team who got 100 points and in every single game, fight, and run and play.
"The people in front (of him) are Leroy (Sane), who last season was one of the most important players we had, Bernardo (Silva), who is the best player in the league, and Raheem (Sterling)."
At Old Trafford, Manchester United caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl both hailed the qualities of often-criticised Romelu Lukaku, whose brace enabled the home side to emerge with a 3-2 win.
Calling the Belgium striker, who ended his nine-match barren run in the previous league game against Crystal Palace, a "quality goalscorer", the Norwegian said: "We need to have him more in front of goal, but he has done fantastic in his work rate, attitude, he loves scoring goals, he smiles every day."
His opposite number agreed, bemoaning that the Saints were only "defeated by a fantastic Romelu Lukaku".
REUTERS, THE GUARDIAN
Football: 'Spineless, shameful' PSG stars face fury at training, Balotelli hits winner against old club Nice PARIS (AFP) - Paris Saint-Germain players ran a gauntlet of hate and abuse after they invited 500 of their die-hard fans to witness a training session on Sunday (March 10), having earlier been blasted as "shameless" and "spineless".
Lewis Hamilton looks out over Melbourne skyline ahead of
sportsloveme.com/racing/f1/lewis-hamilton-looks-out-over-melbourne-skyline-ahead-of-australian-gp/
← Football: 'Spineless, shameful' PSG stars face fury at training, Balotelli hits winner against old club Nice Knicks owner James Dolan threatens to ban fan for yelling 'sell the team' → You May Also Like
winner - malaysia.shafaqna.com
Kevin De Bruyne looks set to miss Wednesday's Manchester derby after limping off in the first half of City's win over Tottenham. Pep Guardiola's team leapfrogged Liverpool on Saturday to regain
Manchester City face anxious wait on Kevin De Bruyne's injury
R416, laziness and too much money in the game. Once you have good results people expect a lot out of you and it becomes too much for the women to handle. Tennis players are the most marketable athletes on the planet next to football/soccer players cause they play around the world, once you attain good results the demand is there.
MONT-SAINT-MICHEL AND CHARTRES, by Henry Adams - The Unz Review
England's future bright with rise of starlets: Henderson LONDON • Jordan Henderson believes that England are ready to fulfil the growing expectations around their vibrant young team as their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign kicks off with the Czech Republic's visit to Wembley today.
Youthful talent gives England a bright future, says Henderson
Chelsea cemented their grip on fourth place in the Premier League as Willian's sublime strike sealed a 2-1 win over struggling Newcastle on Saturday. Willian gem sinks Newcastle as Chelsea
France coach: Women in football face daily battle. 2018, France women's football team coach Corinne Diacre (right) and Eastern football club head coach Chan Yuen-ting pose after an Eastern
Cornellà de Llobregat: Espanyol's Wu Lei became the first Chinese player to score in La Liga on Saturday as his goal helped his team to a 3-1 win over Real Valladolid. Wu Lei, who was named the Chinese Super League's player of the year in November, joined Espanyol in January and was making his
Wu Lei: How Espanyol forward is helping La Liga's attempt to
A memorable Premier League campaign comes to a conclusion on Sunday afternoon. Here, Football Paradise takes a look at five of the main talking points heading into the final weekend of a thrilling season.
Narrow Margins, Narrow Gap - Talking Points from Manchester
LONDON (AFP) - Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as England started what they hope is a road back to Wembley for the Euro 2020 final with a comprehensive 5-0 win over the Czech Republic to open
Raheem Sterling hits hat-trick as England thrash Czech
The Real Madrid defender believes the team is bigger than the now Juventus forward, and his departure will not stop them from getting new trophies. In an article published by Sportskeeda, Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has said that even without Cristiano Ronaldo, the team will keep on winning. "You had to dig a little deeper.
Even Without Ronaldo, Real Madrid Remain - deadspin.com
Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Cardiff City - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - March 2, 2019 Wolverhampton Wanderers' Morgan Gibbs-White in action with Cardiff
Wolves deepen Cardiff's relegation plight with 2-0 win
Football: Can fading force Jose Mourinho deny Liverpool's title march again? Embroiled in a battle for sixth, Jose Mourinho will not win his fourth Premier League title this season. PHOTO: REUTERS
Richard Jolly, News & Top Stories - The Straits Times
Milan - Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus will play the pre-season International Champions Cup in Asia and not in the United States amid the Portugal star's rape investigation there, the New York Times
Ronaldo, Juve will not travel to US amid rape investigaton
Football: Tunisian club win African title after final
Football: 'Fuming' Spurs must not dwell on Wolves loss, says Winks Harry Winks urged his teammates "not to get carried away with a defeat" before their visit to a rejuvenated Cardiff today. PHOTO: AFP
Winks: Spurs players "fuming" at Wolves loss
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen